smoke from exhaust

[mattkats1]

The only problem I have had with my 01 is the big puff of blue smoke that comes out of the pipes if I have't ran it in days. I know I have read posts on this before but now mine's doing it, I can't find the $&$%%* things. Has anyone heard this comes from oil pooling in the pan or something similiar? What the heck can you do for the problem? It really is embarrassing if I crank it up in public and the smoke that pours out would kill a flock of passing geese.


:mad:

[rachrse]

Matthew I had that problem with my 99 turned out to be a valve cover leak on the exhaust manifold. I think I would take it in to ford and have it checked. Also I have a pro 5.0 shifter if your in the market. You know me I almost give this stuff away. John

[mattkats1]

What do you want for it? I doubt you would have any trouble selling that part, everyone wants one. I may not be mechanically inclined enuff to install that sucker myself.:wtf:

[Jstas]

Hope you don't mind me sticking my nose in here.

I have to ask, is the smoke coming from the exhaust pipes or just from under the car. If it is from under the car, it is most likely what rachrse has said and it would be a minor external oil leak. It would only produce enough smoke after it has sat a while because the oil would need time to pool in one spot. If this is the reason for it smoking, the reason it takes so long to dissapate is because it takes so long to burn off.


If the smoke is coming from the exhaust, you may have bigger problems. The bigger problems would be your typical valve seal and guide problems which would require tearing down the heads and rebuilding. Lotsa labor but fairly cheap parts.

Please correct me if I am wrong but I think the Cobras of this year came with forged pistons. If that is the case then forged pistons will contract when they get cool and allow enough space between the piston side and the cylinder wall to let a significant amount of oil by. While newer production methods and better alloys for forged pistons now exist, they can still be prone to this "problem" especially in cold climates. While it is not a good thing, it is not damaging. It will reduce the life of some expensive parts like fuel injectors but it may be something that has to be dealt with, unfortunatly. I suppose that the dealer would fix it but I don't know if warranty coverage would be in order. They may just want to replace the entire engine if that is the problem. The only real issue I see there is, your numbers may not match which could reduce the value of your ride in the future. If you are not concerned with that then, there wouldn't really be an issue.

Another possible issue could be an intake manifold gasket leak. This could cause oil from the gally to leak into a combustion chamber or two. This can be bad because if the intake gasket is leaking oil, it may be leaking coolant. It make also lead to a leaking head gasket. All of that is bad because coolant will wash the cylinder walls if the engine temp is not high enough. If the cylinder walls are washed from either coolant or gasoline, there is no oil on them and we all know what no oil does.

I'm not meaning to alarm you but you were not very specific about your problem and I tried to think of all scenarios. I am hoping that it is merely a valve cover leak like what was suggested. Good luck with it, let us know how it turns out.

[mattkats1]

John...I always assumed the smoke came from the tailpipes but I guess it could have come from underneath the car at the rear but not likely. I would think that it would surely be under warranty sa the car only has 58xx miles. My other stangs have barfed out a little puff of black smoke bu I always attributed that to excess carbon in the tailpipes. This huge cloud of blue smoke is another matter. Funny thing is, if the car is ran for a couple days, the smoke ceases. My car basically sits for days at a time in the garage as I have a work car for a daily driver. I was hoping this might be the big reason it smoked, the car hasn't been abused at all.

[Jstas]

Well, the puff of black smoke at start-up is due to a rich condition. However, many cars will dump more fuel than needed to run under normal conditions into the engine for starting. Most computers are calibrated to run that way and that puff of black smoke is carbon and unburned fuel. It doesn't build up too easily on a properly running car however, it is quite normal on a fuel injected car and nothing to be concerned about.

The blue smoke however is a different story. Any way you cut it, you have oil pooling somewhere. Either on a manifold and it drips down the exhaust piping and sits on a catalytic converter or its pooling in the combustion chamber. If it is pooling in the chamber, it could be any one of the issues I listed above. The main reason it only happens after the car has sat for a couple of days is because, the oil needs that much time to amass an amount in the spot it pools to become noticable.

Does this problem happen immediatly upon startup or does it have to reach a warm temperature? If it happens immediatly upon start-up, oil is leaking into the chamber. If it takes a while, oil is leaking to the outside of the block.

Try something to help your self out here. Let the car sit for a couple of days. When the couple days are over, start the car up and let it idle. See how long it takes to start producing blue smoke. Notice where the smoke is coming from. Pop the hood and take a look. If it is leaking onto a manifold, you will see smoke and smell it immediatly after opening the hood. Doing this will give you an idea of where the smoke is coming from and hopefully clue you into a problem you are having.

[mattkats1]

John...the smoke is blue and it does this immediately upon startup, doesn't need to warm up. Really it seems to puff only when cold. I cleaned the entire motor recently for a show and there was no oil whatsoever on the engine. I have not smelled oil other than the stench from the cloud from the rear. So does this mean the dealer needs to look at it? If it is leaking into the chamber, how bad is that? I mean is this the "replace the whole motor" you mentioned earlier? If that's the case, I will probably need to put the stock air intake back on, the BBK might give them a crappy excuse to try and void my warranty. Ford buying a new motor would probably mean the dealer will be trying everything to not have to shoulder the cost of a cobra motor. But hey...maybe I can talk em into an 03 motor? :kiss:

[Jstas]

Yes, I would take it to the dealer. I highly doubt that an air intake tube would cause your problem though.

It depends on what the issue is causing the oil to burn. If its valve seals or guides then it should just be a head rebuild. I can't see replacing the entire engine for that. It would be quite dumb.

If its gaskets, it depends on what gasket it is and how much damage may or may not have been done. Depnding on the damage done, they may or may not replace the whole motor. Usually a gasket job just requires a tear down to get to the appropriate gasket and replacement of the gasket. Lotsa labor for a cheap part.

If its piston rings or even something like a cracked piston (i.e.: cracked ring land, burned hole or what have you) or head , it would be on an amount of damage basis again. Most likely though, they would want to replace the long block and swap your parts on.

I do not believe that an air intake kit would void a warranty. It doesn't really add power, it just releases power that is there but stifled by the restrictive intake system. It only helps the engine reach its full potential in its current state of tune. Your computer and fuel system are capable of compensating adequatly for the additional air charge available from the more free flowing intake system. If you feel it would void the warranty then, by all means convert it back to stock.

A really important thing you should do, check the oil level and make sure it is sitting at the proper level. If not, get yourself a quart of oil and start adding oil until the level is back to where it should be. Watch the oil level until you get a chance to get it to the dealer. If anything will void your warranty faster its evidence of neglect like inadequate oil in the crankcase.

[Jstas]

BTW, nice wheels! What kind are they and where did you get them?

[mattkats1]

John...the wheels are Billet Speciaties GT-53 genuine billet rims. I got them from a website seller out of Cali. who sells em for about 30-40% off retail. Billet Specialties makes the wheels to order to fit your exact application, many wheel manufacturers sell a generic offset that fits well but just not 100% like stock. I love em, loved the stock polished rims too but I sold them and got the new set for nearly nothing extra. I think my exterior mods are coming to a close, maybe tinted windows one day, bit not much else. :spinem:

[keelhauld]

people with Cobra's suffer from this issue. The old board had a number of comments on it. I never actually see an explanation or a fix for it though.

[NeilBerry]

Rumor has it that we will get the old board messages transfered here.

My current experience on my 2001 Cobra is as follows:
The smoking on start up started with less than 1000 miles. It tends to occur after the car has sat for eight hours, but is not entirely repeatable. The last time it was in for this concern, it was tracked to excess fuel. Service staff indicated that it was due to a "green engine" program that would cease some where between 13,000 to 18,000 miles. I now have slightly over 19,000 miles and it still does it.

[NeilBerry]

Update on latest service visit:

Last told to bring it back after 18,000 miles since my car was running a "green engine" program. This visit at 19,000 mile; Ford says that the smoking is normal for my engine.

My car has been great, it is only resale value that causes me to worry this issue. Who wants to buy a used car that smokes?

[NeilBerry]

My 19,000 mile test has not changed the smoking. Though the dealership I bought the car from was not able to duplicate smoking.

[dougcoffey1950]

Your smoking on cold start up will likely be the result of worn valve seals.
Overnight, oil runs down the valve stems and collects at the top of the seals. I will leak by worn seals and run into the ports. When the motor is fired up cold, blue smoke will puff out the exhaust.
To qualify myself, I own a performance cylinder head specialty shop.
The good news is that seals can be replaced without tearing the heads all apart.
Have a talk to your dealer. It's not a big job and seals are not expensive.
Doug

[MINERALGSVT]

My '01 smoked from day one with 16 miles and smoked when I sold it at 34,xxx miles... random enough to be just annoying... of course, Ford could never duplicate the problem...

[Kory Smith]

I've had the same problem with smoke from the tailpipes at start up since the car was new. I brought back to the SVT dealer a bought it from after it first happened and they found nothing. The service writer said smoke was normal. I'm sorry, but for what I paid for a brand new car, it shouldn't smoke! 33k miles later on my bone stock 2001, it still does it. I had a regular Ford dealer look at it when I brought it in to have the power window motor replaced. They ran the same tests and found nothing. It still smokes whenever... hot, cold, but I've noticed that when I drive it hard and jam through the gears, it's garanteed to smoke the next time I start it. If this is a common problem for 99-01 Cobras, then the dealer doesn't want to deal with it. Has anyone had this problem fixed by the dealer?
Thank you,
Kory
bone stock 2001 Cobra

[NeilBerry]

Mine is also bone stock and started showing smoke from new. One service tech said the root cause was excess fuel at startup. Just fractions of a second of excess fuel at startup.

Quote from SVT Support "All cars smoke on startup"

This has not stopped me from REALLY ENJOYING this car. I just came back from the Nebraska SandHills Open Road Challenge. What a complete blast! The car is great.


I've had the same problem with smoke from the tailpipes at start up since the car was new.

Has anyone had this problem fixed by the dealer?

bone stock 2001 Cobra